THEPSYCHOLOGYTURKEY

Experiencing three or more concussions is linked with worsened brain function in later life, according to major new research. The study -- the largest of its kind -- also found having just one moderate-to-severe concussion, or traumatic brain injury (TBI), can have a long-term impact on brain function, including memory. http://dlvr.it/ShkXb2

Serotonin can impact the mitral valve of the heart and potentially accelerate a cardiac condition known as degenerative mitral regurgitation, according to a new study. http://dlvr.it/Shgdrk

Scientists have created a new collection of month-by-month infant brain atlas (IBA) that capture fine details of the early developing brain across both space and time. http://dlvr.it/ShcBmH

Regularly eating a high fat/calorie diet could reduce the brain's ability to regulate calorie intake. New research in rats found that after short periods of being fed a high fat/high calorie diet, the brain adapts to react to what is being ingested and reduces the amount of food eaten to balance calorie intake. The researchers suggest that calorie intake is regulated in the short-term by cells called astrocytes (large star-shaped cells in the brain that regulate many different functions of neurons in the brain) that control the signalling pathway between the brain and the gut. Continuously eating a high fat/calorie diet seems to disrupt this signalling pathway. http://dlvr.it/Shbcp2

New research has established a blood-based test that could be used to predict the risk of Alzheimer's disease up to 3.5 years before clinical diagnosis. http://dlvr.it/ShYXdh

Researchers have discovered that a certain type of cell that sits on top of the brain's smallest blood vessels senses when their brain region needs energy. When glucose levels are low, these cells signal blood vessels to dilate, increasing the blood flow regionally and allowing more energy to fuel that part of the brain. http://dlvr.it/ShVhnf

Researchers present the first evidence of 12-hour cycles of gene activity in the human brain. The study also reveals that some of those 12-hour rhythms are missing or altered in the postmortem brains of patients with schizophrenia. http://dlvr.it/ShTxdn

Researchers are finding new clues to how the olfactory sensory system aids in threat assessment and have found neurons that 'learn' if a smell is a threat. http://dlvr.it/ShRSvp

A new study suggests that some patients diagnosed with behavioral-variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) -- an incurable condition that robs patients of the ability to control their behavior and cope with daily living -- may instead have a cerebrospinal fluid leak, which is often treatable. http://dlvr.it/ShPjMk

It's clear that chronic stress can impact our behavior, leading to problems like depression, reduced interest in things that previously brought us pleasure, even PTSD. http://dlvr.it/ShN6rz

Scientists have worked out why common anti-depressants cause around a half of users to feel emotionally 'blunted'. They show that the drugs affect reinforcement learning, an important behavioral process that allows us to learn from our environment. http://dlvr.it/ShKFs2

A new study has found high frequency propagating activity patterns in the motor cortex that contain details of upcoming movement -- information that could lead to the development of better brain-machine interfaces. http://dlvr.it/ShDsLG

Researchers identify mutation that causes excessive folding in human brain's wrinkly cerebral cortex, resulting in diminished cognitive function. http://dlvr.it/ShCj27

Neuroscientists find two distinct cell populations in the striatum are affected differently by Huntington's disease. They believe neurodegeneration of one of these populations leads to motor impairments, while damage to the other population, located in a structure called the striosome, may account for the mood disorders that are often see in the early stages of the disease. http://dlvr.it/ShBxTx

Neuroscientists identified a specific neural mechanism in the human brain that tags information with emotional associations for enhanced memory. The team demonstrated that high-frequency brain waves in the amygdala, a hub for emotional processes, and the hippocampus, a hub for memory processes, are critical to enhancing memory for emotional stimuli. Disruptions to this neural mechanism, brought on either by electrical brain stimulation or depression, impair memory specifically for emotional stimuli. http://dlvr.it/ShBWnK

Researchers describe a new family of nano-scale capsules made of silica that can carry genome-editing tools into many organs around the body and then harmlessly dissolve. http://dlvr.it/Sh8sbb

Five years after the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history, researchers document persistent differences in cognitive function among survivors. http://dlvr.it/Sh5vQx

Researchers have developed a new method to look at the cerebellum in detail. http://dlvr.it/Sh23H9

Chemists have developed a tool for noninvasive brain imaging that can help illuminate hard-to-access structures and processes. Their small-molecule dye is the first of its kind that can cross the blood-brain barrier, allowing researchers to differentiate between healthy brain tissue and a glioblastoma tumor in mice. http://dlvr.it/Sh1cph

Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) could help prevent Alzheimer's Dementia among women at risk of developing the disease -- according to new research. http://dlvr.it/Sgz8qk

Negative emotions, anxiety and depression are thought to promote the onset of neurodegenerative diseases and dementia. But what is their impact on the brain and can their deleterious effects be limited? Neuroscientists have observed the activation of the brains of young and older adults when confronted with the psychological suffering of others. The neuronal connections of the older adults show significant emotional inertia: negative emotions modify them excessively and over a long period of time, particularly in the posterior cingulate cortex and the amygdala, two brain regions strongly involved in the management of emotions and autobiographical memory. These results indicate that a better management of these emotions -- through meditation for example -- could help limit neurodegeneration. http://dlvr.it/SgsPX3

Imagine slipping in and out of consciousness hundreds of times per day, staying awake the whole time but having no sense of awareness during these lapses. In children with absence epilepsy, these highly disruptive episodes are known as absence seizures. Absence seizures can be captured by abnormal rhythms on EEG recordings, but their neuronal cause has never before been identified. Using a genetic model known as Genetic Absence Epilepsy Rats of Strasbourg (GAERS), researchers have identified the neuronal basis for this condition. http://dlvr.it/SgrRLx

Brain structures which could predict an individual's predisposition to accidental awareness under anaesthetic have been identified by neuroscientists. http://dlvr.it/SgphM5

The brain performs various cognitive and behavioral functions in everyday life, flexibly transitioning to various states to carry out these functions. Scientists view the brain as a system that performs these numerous functions by controlling its states. To better understand the properties of this control in the brain, scientists look for ways to estimate the difficulty of control, or control cost, when the brain transitions from one state to another. So a team of researchers undertook a study to quantify such control costs in the brain, and was successful in building a framework that evaluates these costs. http://dlvr.it/Sgn7ph

Neuroimaging technology has been shown to hold great promise in helping clinicians link specific symptoms of mental health disorders to abnormal patterns of brain activity. But a new study shows there are still kinks to be ironed out before doctors can translate images of the brain to psychiatric disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). http://dlvr.it/SglFSf

Alzheimer disease begins decades before any symptoms, such as memory loss, start to show. Consequently, early diagnosis increases the chances of slowing the disease down with drugs. A new study on an inherited form of the disease shows that a protein called GFAP is a possible biomarker for very early stages of the disease. The study could one day lead to an earlier detection of this serious and common disease. http://dlvr.it/Sgjm40

A research team has revealed a difference in neural activity in response to visual food stimuli, depending on whether those stimuli are presented consciously or unconsciously. Using a questionnaire to assess the study participants, the team found that this difference was associated with their scores on eating behaviors, including emotional eating and cognitive restraint of food intake. These results indicate that eating behavior cannot be understood without taking into account both unconscious and conscious neural processes. http://dlvr.it/SghLlD

People suffering from symptoms of depression or anxiety may help heal themselves by doing good deeds for others, new research shows. The study found that performing acts of kindness led to improvements not seen in two other therapeutic techniques used to treat depression or anxiety. http://dlvr.it/Sgh52P

In a study using data from nearly 1,200 older adults, researchers have added to a growing body of evidence that loss of the sense of smell is a predictive marker for an increased risk of frailty as people age. http://dlvr.it/Sggldw

A new approach using functional MRI, an imaging technique that allows you to see and measure brain activity through changes in blood flow over time, provides new insight into how we describe and study conscious states. http://dlvr.it/Sgd8Pv

A new study challenges existing ideas of how buildup of a protein called amyloid beta (A?) in the brain is related to Alzheimer's disease. http://dlvr.it/SgX22Y

Researchers describe a previously unknown component of brain anatomy that acts as both a protective barrier and platform from which immune cells surveil the brain for infection and inflammation. http://dlvr.it/SgSL85

Scientists have discovered that time spent exploring an environment causes neural representations to grow in surprising ways. This discovery provides valuable methods for analyzing data on neurocognitive disorders involving learning and memory, such as Alzheimer's disease. http://dlvr.it/SgR5Ll

A team of researchers has mapped the parts of the brain that support our ability to solve problems without prior experience -- otherwise known as fluid intelligence. http://dlvr.it/SgNjGw

A new study suggests that voice and face recognition are linked even more intimately than previously thought. http://dlvr.it/SgLwNb

'Single-cell profiling' is helping neuroscientists see how disease affects major brain cell types and identify common, potentially targetable pathways. http://dlvr.it/SgKlfm